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In a compelling year like no other, NBA fans can now look forward to the playoffs. We have witnessed scoring records broken and triple-double records set, all while the covid-19 pandemic threatened to play havoc with the league's schedule. Prior to the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets tipping off the play-in tournament on Tuesday, we will look back at which players led the league across various metrics during the regular season campaign.
Although it may not be as prestigious as earning the MVP award or Rookie of the Year, leading the NBA in a category such as field-goal percentage is extremely impressive. In this article, we will analyze the players who led in points, assists, rebounds, blocks, field-goal and three-point percentage this season.
Breaking down the 2020-21 NBA stat leaders and how they achieved each feat
One of the most compelling races this year was for the NBA's scoring title. Bradley Beal led the league for a considerable length of time, but Steph Curry's majestic month of April turned the tide. As for the leaders in assists and rebounds, they were fairly well-established coming into the second half of the season.
Let's take a look at who took away the title in each of our categories.
Points - Steph Curry
Steph Curry put on a scoring clinic this campaign to end as the NBA's top scorer. This season was unlike any other we have seen from Curry in his already illustrious career. Curry ended the season averaging 32 points a night, shooting at 48% from the field and 42% from downtown.
What made this year his most impressive was the necessity to carry the Golden State Warriors offense without fellow 'Splash bro' Klay Thompson. That meant Curry put up career-high field-goal and three-point efforts per game, though was still lethal in his accuracy.
In April, Curry obliterated the previous NBA record for most three-pointers made in a month, with 96. During that time he averaged 37.3 points a night and shot at over 50% from the field and 46% from the arc.
He continued to shock the basketball world, adding new records to his résumé, such as having four games with ten or more triples in the month. Only five other players have made ten or more threes in multiple games in their entire careers - let alone within 30 days.
Assists - Russell Westbrook
Although there were several players who controlled the creative tempo of their team, there was only ever going to be one assist leader this year in the NBA. Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook finished the season with 11.7 assists per night, 0.9 more than the next highest player - former teammate James Harden.
He registered more than ten assists in an astonishing 50 games and dished out more than 20 in two fixtures, including a career-high 24 against the Indiana Pacers. During the Wizards' miraculous run to finish in the eighth seed, Westbrook averaged 15.6 assists in their last ten matchups.
Rebounds - Clint Capela
The only player to average over 14 rebounds this year was Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela, who grabbed 14.3 per game. His work in the paint was relatively overshadowed by the Hawks' scoring leaders. However, he was crucial in helping them to the fifth seed in the NBA's East.
Capela led all NBA players in offensive boards with 4.7 and ranked 3rd for defensive rebounds behind Gobert and Westbrook. During the season, the 27-year-old grabbed 20 or more rebounds in a staggering six games, including a season-high 26 against the Detroit Pistons in January.
Blocks - Myles Turner
Previously one of the leaders to take home the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award, it is no surprise to see Myles Turner top the charts for blocks per game with 3.4 a night. Despite the fact that the Indiana Pacers center was injured for almost 30 games this season, the NBA has announced that his blocks per game would still have led the league if he had played the usual 51 games.
Prior to his injury, Turner was having one of his best seasons in the paint and was averaging a career-high number of blocks per matchup. In January, he even swatted as many as 3.8 attempts per game away from the basket.
Field-goal percentage - Rudy Gobert
Gobert was not only dominant in the paint on the defensive end, but was extremely efficient on offense too. Averaging 8.2 field-goals per game, the 28-year-old made 67.5% of efforts.
The Utah Jazz center is not a 3-point shooter, nor does he take many attempts from midrange. Instead, 77% of his field-goals this year came from within 3-feet of the basket (43% of which were dunks), while 20% came from between 3-10 feet away. He knows his role within the Jazz' offense and is extremely efficient with the minutes and attempts he takes while on the floor.
Three-point percentage - Joe Harris
A player who is prolific from beyond the arc is the Brooklyn Nets' sharpshooter Joe Harris. With three of the best scorers the league has ever seen leading the Nets, Harris has had to be and will have to continue to be ready when he is called upon for points. He certainly did so during the regular season, leading the NBA for the second time in 3-point accuracy.
Although he was not a high-volume taker (>8 attempts per game), Harris made 47.5% of his 6.4 three-point attempts per matchup. This is in part due to the fact that the small forward is not in Brooklyn's top-three options for points on offense. Instead, he is utilized as a lethal sniper from the corner, where he made 50% of all attempts. Of Harris' attempts at the basket, 62.8% of them were from downtown this year.
While opposition defenses will be focused on Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, this will open up the floor for the likes of Harris to shoot wide open threes.
